How much did Roger Penske pay for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? All you need to know

Roger Penske bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on November 4, 2019. The IMS holds the Marquee races of the NASCAR and the IndyCar series in the form of the Brickyard 400 and Indy 500. Although Penske didn't plan on buying the speedway, when the opportunity presented itself, the multi-billionaire couldn't say no. Along with the IMS, Penske also bought the ownership of the IndyCar series.

While the exact financials of the deal weren't disclosed to the public, as per foxbusiness.com, the sources suggested that the deal is worth between $250 million and $300 million. The 87-year-old bought the IMS from Hulman and Co. after a successful 74 years of ownership by the previous owner.

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The speedway was built by American automotive and real estate legend Carl G Fisher in 1909. Eddie Rickenbacker then took over the ownership in 1927 before Hulman and Co. bought the Speedway in 1945.

Roger Penske spoke with Forbes in May 2023 about how the offer came about.

“It is ironic that in October of 2019, Tony George came up to me at Laguna Seca and said he would like to talk to me about the future. I really didn’t know what that was.” Roger Penske continued, “I sat down with Tony George and Mark Miles (Hulman & Company CEO and now CEO of Penske Entertainment); he told me the trustees had made a decision to sell the Speedway and asked if we would have any interest.”

“I said. I didn’t know it was for sale, but I would like to have a chance to talk to you about it. Quite honestly, three days later Mark Miles and one of his key executives came to Detroit and started the discussion.”

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the marquee events at the IMS. Regardless, Penske still invested in the venue and it has paid off. Reports suggest that the 2024 Indy 500 was attended by 345,000 people, just 5000 off the record set in 2016.

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“Spent probably $30 million to $35 million since we took over”: Roger Penske on investing in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The American businessman said he spent over $20 million on the speedway after taking over the ownership from Hulman and Co. Despite not having the expected profits from the events following the pandemic, improvements were made to the track.

“Together, we spent probably $30 million to $35 million since we took over the track,” Roger Penske said. “This year, it’s around $10 million. We’ve added more video screens for the people sitting on the mounds behind Turn 3. We put a big screen across from the Pagoda. We’ve done a lot of work in Turns 3 and 4 for the road race. We moved a lot of work over there.”

Penske's vision to invest led to more than 300,000 fans attending the race during the 2022, 2023 and 2024 races.